Guys Drinking Beer

The reasons were many: I probably indulged a bit more this year in the days leading up to Christmas and through New Year’s Eve than years past, I could stand to lose about 20 pounds, and, frankly I just wanted to take a break. 2018, it seems, was a year in which the craft beer community finally took a long, hard look at the health consequences of over-consumption, which can impact beer nerds, brewery employees and beer writers alike. I approached finding that last six pack like a search for a “Desert Island Beer,” but instead of finding a beer I could drink everyday for the rest of my life I was looking for a beer I could savor over a few days. You don’t have to spend a lot of time studying this one, and that’s the beauty of it.

The Chicago craft beer scene saw plenty of change in 2018 – some laying the groundwork for what’s to come in 2019 and beyond. has been shining a spotlight on the local beer scene for a year now and consistently delivers engaging conversations with those behind the beer – from brewers to bottle shops, bar owners to yeast lab scientists. It seems like it’s going to be a Day-Glo explosion of crazy, weirdness-encouraged, beery fun, which the city really needs after a very serious year of beer. We strongly suggest making a point to visit a beer bar that you haven’t drank at lately — especially if perhaps you’ve spent more time at taprooms over the last year?

For The World Blazed Orange: A very good 2017 pale ale got the trendy milkshake treatment in 2018 and, mercy me, was it a winner. And then 2018 ended with a double version of that milkshake style – kudos if you got your hands on any, as it disappeared from shelves in mere minutes.(SP) Three Floyds Dark Lord Lounge Against The Macromachine: A trip to Cleveland saw me sampling more than a few Ohio-only beers, and the one that I’m going to ask be muled my way (until they finally come to Chicago, which I’m sure won’t be long) is this Bubbles rose. My favorite drinking month gets two entries, because Half Acre’s Far and Away Invitational was chock full of really amazing beers, all memorable and well worth discussing — but because the invitational brought in brewers you probably can’t find here, maybe just go check out the post and think fondly on the bonkers-great meads from Supersitition, the flavor bomb Rice Proxy Treat stout from Other Half, two spectacular IPAs from Alvarado Street and some eye-opening spontaneously-fermented beers from The Referend Bier Blendery.

Here are the TTB approved Beer Labels from Illinois breweries for December 2018. Each month we pore over a database of labels approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, to bring you new beers from brewers across Illinois before they hit store shelves